Rural women’s rights, food and poverty are issues that are inextricably linked. In 2016, the International Day of Rural Women and World Food Day will focus jointly on the theme “Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too”. A high-level commemoration event will take place at the United Nations Headquarters on 17 October, 1.15 - 2.30 p.m.

Today, farmers, fishers and pastoralists stand on the frontlines of food insecurity as temperatures rise, weather patterns become less predictable and climate-related disasters become more frequent. As key actors in food systems, as small-scale farmers and those in charge of ensuring adequate nutrition for families, rural women are at the centre of this challenge.

Yet, their voices are muted; their choices restricted. Women farmers control less land than do men—less than 20 per cent of landholders are women [1] —and also have limited access to inputs, seeds, credits, climate-smart technologies or finance. Whether they stay back to care for their families and communities when environmental degradation or disasters strike, or migrate to find food, safety and decent work, rural women are exponentially more vulnerable and marginalized.

The 2016 theme for International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, “Moving from humiliation and exclusion to participation: Ending poverty in all its forms”, also has special resonance for rural women. The nexus of limited access to resources, inadequate health care and education, systematic discrimination and barriers to their participation exacerbates their poverty.

Empowering rural women is a pre-requisite to fulfilling the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals that aim to end poverty and hunger, achieve food security and empower all women and girls.

Messages

“Changes are on the way for women farmers”
In a statement for International Rural Women’s Day, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka stressed the importance of empowering rural women farmers as agents of change for transforming food production and consumption.

Multimedia

UN Women Stories | Isabel Deitliens – Lychee Farmer

We tell the story of Isabel Deitliens, a Mozambican woman who pursued her dream of becoming a commercial fruit farmer. Isabel took advantage of a UN Women-supported policy initiative that increased Mozambican women’s access to farmland and productive resources. Isabel now owns and operates a successful fruit farm that exports to international markets.

UN Women Stories | Daphne Bayayi – Tobacco Farmer

We tell the story of Daphne Bayayi, a Zimbabwean woman who pursued her dream of becoming a commercial farmer. Daphne took advantage of a UN Women-supported land reform programme that increased Zimbabwean women’s access to farm land and productive resources. Daphne now owns and operates a successful tobacco farms that exports a world-class product onto international markets.

Hima is an ancient practice used by rural communities in Lebanon to ensure economic cooperation, sustainability and equitable resource management. Rural women have traditionally played key leadership and decision-making roles in the Hima community model. Today, one conservation-minded organisation – the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon–is reviving the ancient Hima approach to help rural women reassert their traditional leadership roles in community life.

My rights, My identity (Mere Haq Meri Pehchaan)

'Mere Haq Meri Pehchaan (My rights, My identity)' looks at a gendered understanding of livelihoods focusing on women farmers. Through a pilot implemented in select districts of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, UN Women and its partner ANANDI have been supporting government functionaries of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) to ensure that its design, implementation and monitoring is more gender-responsive.

Photo: UN Women/Murray Lloyd

Photo essay: In Vanuatu, women tackle drought to restore livelihoods after Cyclone Pam
In the months following the Cyclone Pam, a prolonged El Niño-fueled drought prevented replanting, causing months of crop failure, water and food insecurity and the decimation of the livelihoods of market vendors, the majority of whom are women. Women in Vanuatu are now working to restore their livelihoods and adapt their marketplace to be more resilient to future climate disasters.

From where I stand

“Last year I lost 1,800 ready-for-market chickens because of the drought. They couldn’t stand the heat...”

Florah Maswanganyi, 54, is a farmer from Giyani Village in Limpopo province, South Africa. She took part in a workshop on the effects of climate change on rural women and women smallholder farmers, which aimed to strengthen rural women’s voices in advocating for gender-sensitive climate change agreements.
Read more»

“I became a widow nearly three years ago and have to support eight children—seven daughters and one son...”

Khateeja Mallah (Durdana), 31, is a widow from Pakistan’s Dadu District in Sindh Province. She is one of 1,214 landless women farmers who have received land tenancy rights through a programme being implemented by UN Women, FAO and ILO.
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“This is my second time living in communal camps, second time running away from civil war to protect myself...”

Nahimana Fainesi fled her native Burundi and has been living in the Lusenda refugee camp in Democratic Republic of Congo where she works as a farmer in a UN Women cash-for-work programme. Read more»

Empowering women farmers of Rwanda through mobile technology
Farmers in Rwanda now know the exact size of their land, can better forecast production and access markets through digital, mobile-enabled platform supported by UN Women and World Food Programme. What’s more, the programme is bridging gender equality gaps in agriculture and ensuring women’s equal participation in the value chain.